Burks

MEMORANDUM **

After the district court refused to appoint appellant Keith Burks a new attorney, he was convicted on the charge of felon in possession of a firearm. At sentencing, the district court ordered that Burks would not pay for his placement in a community corrections center unless the probation officer determined that Burks had the ability to pay. Burks appeals that condition of his supervised release and the denial of his motion for substitute counsel. We affirm.

The district court was within its discretion to deny Burks’s motion because there was no evidence of a breakdown in communication between him and his attorney. 1 *288 The only genuine conflict between them concerned trial tactics, which are “clearly within the realm of powers committed to the discretion of defense counsel.” 2 The district court ascertained that Burks’s complaint was that his attorney would not file motions challenging the district court’s jurisdiction and whether the police had probable cause to stop him, which motions the district court determined would be meritless. Although the better approach would have been to ask follow-up questions and allow the defendant to speak fully to ensure that…